DRIVING AROUND YESTERDAY, I encountered a Maserati GranTurimo Trofeo, a striking looking blue one making the appropriate snarly sounds as it passed by. Well now, this is Orange County, California, where even the occasional Lamborghini doesn’t raise all that much attention. Indeed, I seem to encounter more Lambos than Maseratis.
Coincidentally, I had come upon the November 1959 R&T road test of a Maserati 3500 GT, described back then as “still a rare bird in Calfornia” and causing “much excitement when it arrived in front of our offices.”
Here are tidbits gleaned from this 65-year-old road test, interspersed with today’s rare bird status of Maserati on our shores.
First Impressions. R&T wrote, “The first impression is one of surprise at the car’s size. It is unusually large for an Italian sports car and, as we later discovered, unusually heavy. The demonstrator was dark blue [as was my recent encounter’s], a color which doesn’t do a great deal for this model, but then all Italian cars are not necessarily painted red. The body quite naturally is by Touring, and had a superb finish.”
1959 Maserati 3500 GT. This and following images from R&T, November 1959.
Sixty-five Years Later. Like other upmarket exotics, this time around Maserati has an “unusually large” array of models, everything from GTs to coupes, cabrios—and SUVs. How times have changed.
The 3500 GT’s Accommodations. “The interior,” R&T recounted back then, “is equally impressive. The test car had leather upholstery, apparently pigskin, but in a reddish-brown color. The two semi-bucket seats are low, but not so close to the floor as in some sports cars.”
“Behind them,” R&T observed, “is a small bench seat which looks large enough for two—providing they have no legs. Moving the front seats forward results in only a minimum of leg room for potential rear passengers.”
“Two + a Fraction” hadn’t been invented yet, though I do recall a colleague whose childhood involved stints in the back of a similarly configured Porsche.
“As usual in Italian cars,” R&T said, “the steering wheel is placed well forward. The full complement of instruments looks custom made, not like the occasional war surplus offering.”
Looks Powerful, and Is. R&T described, “Under the hood is an in-line 6 with block and head of cast aluminum. The double overhead camshafts make it look big and powerful, and with 230 bhp it is all of that.”
But Old Chevy Tappets? The magazine continued, “Starting the engine produces a huge truck-like sound: at idling speed of only 500 rpm the deep, awesome rumble is accompanied with a certain amount of clatter, something like loose tappets of an old Chevrolet.”
Power Roar, Not Complaint. “The instant the car moved off,” R&T said, “all rumble and clatter vanished and we discarded our reservations about the powerplant. The engine does not have American V-8 smoothness and silence but is entirely adequate in this respect. Only when really extended does it become at all noticeable, and even then the sound is more power roar than complaint.”
In fact, the magazine noted, “We have long felt that the Maserati (along with its compatriot, Ferrari) is a little too noisy and fussy for genteel use; now we are going to have to eat our words.”
A Fine ZF Gearbox. “For all its size and weight,” R&T observed, “the Maserati is very easy to drive, one of its best features being an excellent gearbox by ZF. All gears are quiet and are synchronized via the usual cones. If you really stand on it, first gear gives a truly magnificent burst of acceleration, albeit a trifle noisy. Using the short, floor-mounted shift lever is sheer pleasure.”
To put the Maserati’s acceleration in perspective, its 0-60 time of 7.5 seconds isn’t far behind a ’59 Vette’s 6.6. And, R&T reported, “if you feel lazy, high gear is comfortable as low as 20 mph (850 rpm).”
A Data Panel Anomaly. R&T observed, “Students of performance data will note that the test weight is considerably higher than our usual curb-plus-300-lb figure, and they should be charitable enough not to ask questions regarding the weight of the people involved. [A similar thing occurred in the later ’70s when I replaced wiry R&T colleagues in testing.] The curb weight itself includes 23 gallons, or 138 lb, of fuel. (The three big Webers are gluttons if opened often and/or for long.)”
The Maserati’s recorded fuel usage was 15-20 mpg; that ’59 Vette’s, 11-17. So there.
R&T’s Concluding Thoughts: “The buyer of a Maserati pays a lot for the privilege of ownership.” The 3500 GT was listed at $10,500; figure around $112,425 in 2024 dollars. “But he gets a lot in return,” the magazine added. “He may get a few problems too, but each car is delivered with a complete shop manual—unfortunately in Italian.”
The Maserati trident hasn’t changed.
And, back then, note, Maserati dealerships didn’t offer SUVs. Indeed, no one did. ds
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2024